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Idaho Legislature adjourns for session; all of Gov. Little's vetoes stand

The 2022 session ends at 81 days. Major legislation adopted this year includes a $600 million income tax cut and a record increase in the budget for public schools.

BOISE, Idaho — The second session of the 66th Idaho Legislature is over. The House adjourned Sine Die at 1:50 p.m. Thursday; the Senate followed about an hour later.

The phrase "Sine Die" is Latin, and means adjournment without a day appointed for resumption of business.

What turned out to be the final day of the session came five days after lawmakers called a recess the night of Friday, March 25, after a lengthy debate on the budget for the Idaho Commission for Libraries, which was the final appropriations bill of the session. They recessed rather than adjourned to allow time to address -- and possibly override -- vetoes by Gov. Brad Little.

Lawmakers on Thursday took override votes on one vetoed bill: Senate Bill 1381, the Coronavirus Pause Act. However, it did not receive the two-thirds supermajority necessary to override the governor's veto. The vote on Thursday was 21-14. Earlier in the session, the Senate voted 24-11 in favor of the bill, which would have made it illegal for most businesses to require the coronavirus vaccine as a condition of employment or receiving service. It included exemptions for situations involving federal law, existing employee-employer contracts, and businesses that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Other bills vetoed by Gov. Little include House Bill 782, which would have shortened the length of judicial appointments, increased the number of members for the Idaho Judicial Council, and changed the way members of the Judicial Council are chosen; also, House Bill 723, which would have changed the school funding formula from one based on average daily attendance to one based on enrollment; House Bill 533, which would have allowed certain public school employees to continue receiving master educator premiums after moving from teaching positions to administration; Senate Bill 1301 sought to "clarify how market value of a self-storage facility is calculated" in relation to tax assessments; Senate Bill 1400, an appropriation bill for the Office of Information Technology, was also vetoed, but lawmakers replaced it with another appropriation bill for that office.

The 81 days of this year's legislative session included passing the state's largest-ever income tax cut of $600 million and one of the nation's most restrictive abortion bans. The "heartbeat" abortion ban will be enforced through lawsuits to avoid constitutional court challenges. Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit to block the law

Other notable legislation that became law included a record 11-percent, $300 million increase for K-12 public schools, $325 million for water infrastructure and more than $800 million for transportation costs and deferred maintenance on state buildings.

"Targeted historic investments back into our school system, not only in literacy, but into our end of the teacher workforce; roads; bridges; water," said House Speaker Scott Bedke (R-Oakley). "Also another historic tax cut. I think those are what we'll look back on five years from now, and I'll say '2022, that was a pretty good session.'"

Bedke also said he was proud of the legislature's efforts to improve health care benefits for Idaho teachers.

The Idaho Legislature's Democratic members said they were proud to have played a role in getting crucial budgets passed. Frustrations for the minority party included the handling of social issues such as school curriculum, library content, transgender rights and abortion.

"Frankly, I'm just very disappointed in the Legislature for passing this," said House Minority Leader Ilana Rubel (R-Boise), referring to Senate Bill 1309, which provides for civil penalties against those who perform an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. "To me, no matter how pro-life you are or how strongly you feel about abortion, whether it should be legal, I think there are certain bounds of decency that should not be crossed. Just because you're pro-life doesn't mean you have to vote for every single bill that pertains to abortion and making it illegal."

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